


Almost there

by errantknightess



Series: Together we've got two good eyes [3]
Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Dorkiness, Fluff, Humor, Love Confessions, M/M, Romance, Stargazing, Walks On The Beach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-04-01 00:04:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3998311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/errantknightess/pseuds/errantknightess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The sky was riddled with tiny twinkling specks, packed so close that it was hard to see them against the pale light they gave off around the edges, making them look like dust scattered on a dark purple cloth. Allen sucked his breath in, the air piercing in his lungs.</p><p>“Amazing, isn’t it?” Lavi let out a sigh, his voice distant and a bit shaky. “A sight like this makes you wanna dive head-first into that void. There’s a lot about people I’ll never understand, but I can get why they’ve been studying the night sky since the beginning of time.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Almost there

Allen could hear the sea long before they saw it. At first he wasn’t sure if the sound was really the crashing of waves or just exhaustion pounding in his ears. They’ve been walking under the blistering sun all day. Even now, at the edge of evening, the heat was unbearable. Allen tugged at his unbuttoned collar, the damp fabric clinging unpleasantly to his skin. His coat hung in the crook of his arm in a thick, heavy bundle warm against his body. He had rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, but that did little to relieve him. But if the low murmur of water and the wind that started to pick up every now and then were anything to go by, they were finally getting close.

As the next feeble gust came his way, Allen turned his head to catch the refreshing breeze in his face. It smelled bitterly of salt and something else, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He stopped, taking it in his lungs in a deep breath until it made him dizzy. His parched throat tingled and closed up.

“You feel that, too?” Lavi came up behind his back, dragging his feet on the dirt road. He leaned heavily on Allen’s shoulder and breathed the hot air in. “Smells like we’re almost there.”

“If Kanda gave us the right directions.” Allen nodded, trying to recall what they were told over Lavi’s golem. The information was scarce, what with Kanda being his usual succinct, snappish self; it was a miracle they managed to get even this much out of him.

“He said it’s by the sea, right? We can’t be far now.”

“Let’s hope so,” Allen sighed, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. Lavi was still weighing on his shoulder, his heavy breath sweeping over Allen’s ear and neck, which wasn’t really helping in this weather. Allen shrugged his friend off, raising his hand again to shield his eyes from the persistent sun.

“Come on.”

They picked up the march, walking along the road as far as it could get them. Soon enough the beaten ground turned loose and finer, the path fading into a stretch of sand grown over with tufts of grayish, long-bladed grass. The land was raising and falling in gentle slopes that didn’t take them much time or effort to mount even as the sand was giving way under their feet. The sound of waves was growing louder and clearer, the air sharp and filled with the same fresh, bitter scent they felt earlier. Dune after dune, Allen and Lavi climbed their way across the expanse until they stopped at the top of the last hill. Before their eyes unfolded a beach -- a wide belt of light sand lined with jagged cliffs jutting out in a crescent on their left -- and beyond that, sparkling blindingly in the blaze, rolled the sea, so bright blue it seemed almost unreal.

“Wooo, we made it!” Lavi cheered, patting Allen on the back. Allen pulled a face as the hearty slaps made his sweaty shirt stick to his body even more.

“Not quite,” he said, ducking out of Lavi’s range. “Look, there’s our town. We still have a long way to go.”

Lavi’s eye followed Allen’s finger to the cluster of white huddled on the rocky mountainside. From the distance, the houses looked like a handful of dice stacked among the stones.

Lavi sagged a little, his knees giving up under him.

“Why didn’t he tell us it’s so far away?”

“Because he’s Kanda.”

“He couldn’t possibly find a meet-up point that’s any _further_ or _higher_ , or... generally more of a pain to get to, could he?”

“He probably thought really hard about that one,” Allen deadpanned. “And he came from that direction, so he probably had it easier. I bet there’s a decent main road leading up there on the other side.”

“Meanwhile, we’re left to fry alive out here.” Lavi looked down along the beach and back to Allen. “I’m sorry we can’t use my hammer to get there.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure Komui will fix it when we get back. I’m glad it was just the hammer and not your neck.”

“I had no idea it’s so fragile when it’s not activated.” Lavi pulled the tiny hammer out of its holster and twirled it in his fingers, running his thumb along the cracks zig-zagging all over the handle. “Let’s hope we won’t run into any more trouble now.”

“We’ll be fine.” Allen gave him a reassuring smile and started to descend, sliding down the slope as he lost his footing in the loose sand. Lavi followed suit and in a moment they were both sitting in the narrow patch of shade at the foot of the hill.

“Man, let’s just stay here,” Lavi sighed, fanning his face with one hand. “Uh, what are you doing?” he turned his head in surprise as Allen suddenly leaned hard against him.

“If I take one more step in these, my feet will fall off,” Allen groaned, pressing his back against Lavi’s side as he struggled to pull his boots and socks off. He tossed them aside with his coat and skipped towards the water, hissing as the sizzling sand stung at his soles. Lavi shook his head with a laugh and got up to join him, only stopping to take his boots off when he already reached the shore.

Allen rolled up his trousers and stepped into the water. His feet tingled with relief as the chilly waves washed over them, tumbling steadily back and forth as if teasing him to follow them. He waded farther ahead, thick seabed sand squeezing in between his toes; it was a weird sensation, but unexpectedly pleasant after a whole day of confinement in his bulky footwear. He scooped some water in his hands and splashed his face. Even with the salt stinging in his eyes and in the cracks on his lips, it felt good -- refreshing. Allen could barely fight the urge to throw himself head-first into the water as he stood, shirt and all. He ran wet fingers through his hair and down his neck, tiny droplets finding their way along his spine -- and then suddenly there was a rapid waterfall of cold water rushing under his collar, over his face and into his ears.

Allen spun around, spitting and wiping his eyes. His foot slipped and he collided with Lavi, who was standing right behind him, smiling innocently as if he didn’t just dump two handfuls of seawater onto his friend’s head.

“What the...” Allen started, choked, and erupted into a coughing fit. “Why did you do that?” he managed while Lavi thumped him vigorously on the back.

“Why not? You make such a good target.” Lavi grinned and ruffled Allen’s hair, making the wet strands stick out at all possible angles. Allen flicked his fingers at him, trying to sprinkle him with water as well.

They made their way back to the beach to pick up their clothes, but they kept to the sea, strolling along the stretch of smooth, hard sand rhythmically licked by the waves. The lazy breeze that would blow their way every now and then grew stronger. The sun started to set behind their backs, spreading their long shadows under their bare feet.

“Stop stepping on my shadow.” Lavi poked Allen with his elbow. They were walking side by side, swinging their arms and bumping into each other whenever they fell out of step.

“Then stop pushing me out on the beach,” Allen retaliated. “I want to walk in the water, too.”

“You could have just said so, instead of threading on my toes.” Lavi threw his arm around Allen’s shoulders and pulled him closer so that they both had their feet in the water even when the waves receded.

“Now you’re the one stepping on my shadow,” Allen teased, pressing his side to Lavi’s under the pretense of another playful shove. Now that the heat let up, he didn’t mind the touch. Lavi’s arm tightened around him and Allen slowly raised his hand to return the gesture. With the corner of his eye, he saw Lavi smile to himself as he lightly stroked Allen’s shoulder with his thumb.

“Now we just have one shadow. We’ll have to share.”

Allen looked down. Their shadows had melted into a single streak of blueish grey against the white sand. He could barely even make out their heads, elongated grotesquely and wrinkled by the constant move of the water.

“Fair enough,” he laughed.

They walked on, with jostling of hips and thighs brushing against each other and gentle nudges when either of them started to get in the way. The white town looming in front of them didn’t seem to be getting any closer.

Allen dragged his feet, burying his toes in the soft sand and making it rise from the bottom in swirling clouds. The water helped to ease the tension in his muscles, but he was still tired and aching, and now that the sun was almost gone, the sea was getting colder, making his feet go a little numb. He tried pulling them out as he walked, raising his knees and making a splash every time he took a step. It made a world of a difference to feel the warm air on his skin even for a short moment. He stomped ahead, getting water onto his rolled-up trousers and watching with some peculiar pleasure as the droplets sprinkled around before him.

Lavi quickly caught on to that. He longered his strides, rapidly throwing his legs forward to launch a shower of driblets that splattered on both of them. Allen glided his foot sideways through the water, making a perfectly aimed little wave that splashed against Lavi’s shins. In answer, Lavi swept his leg in a broad arc, raising a rushing wall of water and drenching Allen well above his knees.

“Hey!” Allen giggled, kicking wildly at the water to return the favour. Lavi laughed and ducked out of the way. Before Allen could turn around, Lavi was already sneaking up behind him and wrapping his arms around Allen’s waist.

“I remember you saying you wanted to be in the water,” he said right into Allen’s ear, swooping him off the ground as he started to whirl around. Allen’s legs dangled helplessly, skimming the surface and rousing another drizzle.

“You know that’s not what-- Slow down!” Allen yelled, barely keeping laughter out of his voice. He reached to Lavi’s hands to try and pry them open on instinct, but instead just clutched them tight as Lavi started spinning faster and faster. The sky and the sea blurred into a screen of blue and Allen clenched his eyes, still screaming with glee.

“You sure?” Lavi smiled against his ear again, his chin digging into Allen’s collarbone. Allen tightened his grip, feeling really dizzy now. His head rushed and his stomach twisted almost painfully, and he wasn’t sure if it had more to do with the wild swirling or with Lavi’s face pressed to his.

“Stoooop!” he howled. "Let me go!”

“Sorry, can’t do that.” Lavi’s answer nearly drowned in all the commotion. Allen felt a sudden change of pace, and then they abruptly swerved to the side; he kicked the air, trying to regain his footing, but he couldn’t fight against the momentum. The sky somersaulted above his head as Lavi stumbled under him, plunging both of them down into the shallow water.

“Well, that was miscalculated.” Lavi sat up, spitting and snorting. “Sorry about that.”

“Serves you right.” Allen smiled like a demon and pulled himself up, his fingers still clenched around Lavi’s wrist. He let go of it quickly, raising his hands to wipe his face.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it,” Lavi reached up to brush Allen’s dripping fringe out of his eyes. Allen rubbed at his cheeks with more force, feeling a rushing heat under his skin.

“Maybe a little,” he mumbled, scrambling to his legs and offering Lavi a helping hand. “But don’t take that as encouragement.”

“Duly noted.” Lavi took his hand and heaved himself up. He picked up his boots and jacket and proceeded to pointlessly wipe his wet palms in his equally wet trousers.

“Crap,” he muttered as his hand slid over something in his pocket. He reached and fished out his golem, holding it by one wing as it dripped with water. “I forgot about it.”

“Do you think it’s still working?” Allen eyed the golem carefully. It was caked with wet sand and looking rather unresponsive.

“Let’s see.” Lavi waded back to the shore, dropped his bundle of soaked clothes on the sand and plopped down next to it. Allen followed, throwing his own coat on the pile and sitting down by Lavi’s side to watch him dry and clean the golem with the hem of his shirt.

“Testing, one, two, three,” Lavi said, holding the device to his mouth. Allen shifted closer, but he still couldn’t hear the light buzzing sound that would indicate the golem was connected. Lavi sighed impatiently and gave it a violent shake.

“Hey, Yuu, can you hear me?”

Nothing.

“It’s busted.” Lavi tossed the useless golem on the pile of clothes. “The water must have got inside. Maybe it’ll start working when it dries some more.”

“You’re quite destructive today,” Allen joked, poking Lavi with his elbow. “What are you going to break next?”

“More sweat, probably.” Lavi ran his hand through his hair with a sigh. “We’re only just halfway, at most. I don’t think we’re getting there before nightfall.”

Allen looked over towards the distant town. The last rays of the setting sun painted the white walls golden and filled the cracks in the rock beneath it with deep shadows. It looked clear and sharp, and beautiful. Allen felt something stinging in his stomach. He knew all too well what waited for them at the end of this path. Throughout the day he almost managed to forget that, drown it out in the water and sun. When was the last time they had so much fun? When will they get the next chance to walk together like that and feel so careless?

Will they even get that chance at all?

Words escaped his mouth before he could stop them.

“Why don’t we stay here?”

“Huh?” Lavi turned towards him, as if not sure if he heard correctly. Allen took his gaze, his cheeks heating up with resolve.

“Think about it. Even if we make it to that rock tonight, we won’t be able to climb all the way up to the town.” He swallowed hard, trying to reason more with himself than with his friend. “I might be good at spotting the akuma, but I can’t see in the dark. So... Maybe we could spend the night here, and go the rest of the way tomorrow?”

Lavi blinked slowly and suddenly cracked a smile.

“You know, if you’re tired, you could have just said so.”

This time it was Allen’s turn to blink in confusion.

“That’s not--”

“It’s all right,” Lavi cut him off, looking rather amused. “I’m knackered myself. Would’ve brought that up earlier, actually, I just thought you’d want to get a normal bed and eat something. I can handle going to sleep without dinner, but aren’t you gonna be hungry?”

“I can manage.” At the mention of food, the sucking feeling in his stomach intensified, but Allen did his best to ignore it.

“You don’t wanna eat? Wow, you sure you’re all right?” Lavi put a hand to Allen’s forehead with mocking concern, which earned him a light-hearted slap on the arm. “Okay, that settles it. We can’t go on with you in this state.”

“Very funny.” Allen rolled his eyes, leaning away from Lavi’s touch, but he couldn’t help the smile tugging at his lips.

“Shame we can’t contact Yuu, though.” Lavi shot a disheartened glance at his broken golem. “He’ll be mad we made him wait for us.”

“He’s _always_ angry.” Allen shrugged. The prospect of dealing with a grumpy Kanda first thing in the morning was none too pleasant, but they could worry about that when the time comes.

“Hard to deny that.” Lavi lit up a little. “Okay, since we’re staying here, we can as well have a little fun,” he added, taking off his shirt in one swift motion.

Allen stared at him.

“What are you doing?”

“Going for a swim.” Lavi kicked off his trousers and rolled his arms, standing up in his underwear. “Care to join me?”

Allen was almost sure Lavi winked, but it was hard to tell with the eyepatch. He looked at the foamy waves greying under the pale sky and tugged uncertainly at his sweaty shirt.

“Sure, why not.”

Lavi grinned and pulled his headband off, throwing it with the rest of his clothes.

“Then get on with it. Last in the water buys breakfast!” he called and sprinted towards the sea.

“Wait, that’s not fair!” Allen shouted, trying to untangle himself from his shirt and trousers all at once. He tossed them aside and ran after Lavi, sand flying up from under his feet.

***

In hindsight, bathing in the evening chill might not have been such a good idea.

Allen curled his legs up, wrapping his still damp coat closer around him. As the night fell, the wind picked up stronger than before, and though the air was still warm, it didn’t feel as pleasant as during the day -- especially after spending so much time in the water. Allen shifted a little under his coat, trying to find a more comfortable position, when a massive sneeze shook his entire body, pressing his face into the sand.

“Gesundheit,” came from behind his back.

Allen rolled over, coming face to face with Lavi, who was laying on his side with his head propped on hand, eye wide open.

“Thanks,” Allen replied, wiping his nose and getting rid of the grains of sand that stuck to his lips. “Is something wrong?” he asked in a whisper, stealing a look around in the dark, his left hand clenching in a fist on instinct.

“No, why?” Lavi sounded surprised.

“You’re up.” Allen relaxed a bit, though a shade of concern still lingered in his voice. “You can’t sleep, either?”

“Yeah.” Lavi rolled on his back, but kept his head turned toward Allen, who started to fiddle with the edge of his coat.

“I’m sorry I made you camp out here,” said Allen quietly. “Maybe we should have tried to reach the town and find an inn.”

“Are you kidding? I like it much better here.” Lavi smiled, crossing his arms under his head. “It’s been a while since we slept under the open sky.”

“Last time we tried, you caught a cold for a week,” Allen reminded, guilt swelling in his stomach despite his light tone.

“Because it was raining cats and dogs. We’ll be fine now. There aren’t even any clouds. Look, you can see all the stars.”

Allen looked up. The sky was riddled with tiny twinkling specks, packed so close that it was hard to see them against the pale light they gave off around the edges, making them look like dust scattered on a dark purple cloth. Allen sucked his breath in, the air piercing in his lungs.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Lavi let out a sigh, his voice distant and a bit shaky. “A sight like this makes you wanna dive head-first into that void. There’s a lot about people I’ll never understand, but I can get why they’ve been studying the night sky since the beginning of time.”

“Have you been studying it, too?” Allen asked, turning his head for a moment to glance at Lavi before the silent abyss above them captured his gaze again.

“A little. The old man taught me some of it when we were travelling, said it was handy in finding your way. But mostly I’d just read some maps of the sky and stare up a lot.” Lavi laughed softly, his eye fixed ahead. “I know all the constellations mapped out by the ancient Greeks, and I can show most of them in a good weather. Never really came to need that, but I enjoy it anyway.”

“Can you show me?” The excitement in Allen’s voice made Lavi let out another laugh. He scooted closer and raised his hand in front of their faces.

“Do you see those three stars over there?” he asked, tracing a line with his finger. “You know what they are?”

Allen shook his head, brushing their cheeks together on accident. They were laying so close he could feel the salty smell of the sea lingering on Lavi’s skin after swimming; it was different from the scent that hung in the air around them, though Allen couldn’t quite tell what the difference was. He pressed his temple against Lavi’s, listening to his explanations.

“That’s Orion’s Belt. And that’s the rest of Orion,” Lavi went on, joining the dots in the sky with quick moves of his finger until Allen could see a stick figure in the mess of stars. “He was a giant hunter with an equally giant ego, who boasted that he’d kill every last animal on Earth. So the goddess Artemis sent a scorpion to deal with him, and the scorpion killed Orion. That’s why you never see their constellations both at the same time.”

“That’s fascinating.” Allen smiled. “The only constellation I know is the Plough.” He searched the sky for the seven familiar dots, easily visible even in the flurry of others.

“Oh yeah, this one. Did you know it goes by a different name in almost every civilization? We call it the Plough, or the Wagon, but in Africa it’s known as the Drinking Gourd.”

“Really?” Allen tilted his head, peering up. “Right, I think I can see why.”

“It’s not always that obvious. People in Finland see it as a salmon net, and I could never get behind that. In some Arabian legends, it’s a king’s coffin followed by his three mourning wives. And the ancient Egyptians saw it as Horus, a god with a falcon head, stabbing a one-legged bull held on a chain by a hippo.”

“You’re pulling my leg.” Allen laughed, poking Lavi in the ankle with his foot. This image was just too ridiculous.

“No, I swear, I’m serious!” Lavi retaliated, dropping his arm behind Allen’s head, tips of his fingers brushing Allen’s shoulder. They lay for a moment, listening to the steady beating of the waves against the shore, until Lavi broke the silence again.

“Looks like the cowherd came out to meet his wife.”

Allen shot him a confused sideways glance.

“Did you get a sunstroke? You sound like you’re raving.”

Lavi snorted with amusement and reached out his arm once more.

“See this star? The bright one? It’s called Altair, or the cowherd.”

Allen followed his finger, but all he saw was a fumble of white dots.

“This one?” he pointed one of the dots at random, trying to find one that looked brighter than the others. Lavi shook his head; his hand closed around Allen’s and he guided their fingers to the right spot.

“This one. And this,” he continued, steering their hands to another part of the sky, “is Vega, the weaver girl, his wife. And their children,” he added, moving back to point out two smaller dots next to Altair. “Do you wanna hear this story?”

“Sure,” Allen smiled, shifting his head a bit on the soft sand. Lavi lowered his arm again, letting their hands drop to his chest. Allen could feel the beat of his heart under his fingers and the slow breaths as Lavi started to talk.

“All right then. It’s an old Chinese legend, and it has lots of different versions, but the one I like best goes like this: there once was a cowherd who had nothing but a small cottage and a patch of earth and a single buffalo. He was poor and lonely and quite miserable. So one day when he was out plowing his tiny field, the buffalo spoke to him this way-- now, I know a talking buffalo is a bit crazy, but we’ve seen crazier, right? So anyway, the buffalo tells the cowherd to get himself a bride-- and not just any bride, mind you. No, he told the cowherd, ‘Tomorrow at this time go to the lake in the forest, you will find a girl bathing there. Take her dress from the shore and hide yourself until she comes out. She will be your bride and bring you luck.’

“The cowherd listened to the advice and sure enough, he found a girl bathing in the forest lake the next day. She was the weaver girl from the celestial court, and man, was she pretty. So the cowherd goes, ‘Strike!’, and steals her dress.” Lavi paused, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “I mean, it’s kind of creepy, but that’s what he did. And the weaver girl came out looking for her clothes, because obviously she can’t go back to heaven stark naked, and there comes the cowherd asking for her hand in return for the dress. Apparently the weaver girl had no problem with that – I don’t know, maybe that’s the proper way to court celestial spirits -- ‘cause soon enough they were married and living together in the cowherd’s cottage with their two children and the buffalo.

“But the weaver girl’s mother wasn’t happy about that, so she hunted her down and snatched her away back to heaven. The cowherd was devastated, but he couldn’t do anything, so the buffalo, being the good wingman that he was, told the cowherd to kill him and wear his hide so he could pursue his wife. Don’t ask me how that works, I told you the buffalo was weird. So the cowherd did as he was told, grabbed the kids and soared up to heaven.

“He had almost caught up with the weaver girl and her mother when the old woman took a jade comb out of her hair and dragged it across the sky; and as she did, a foaming river appeared between them, stranding the weaver girl on one bank and the cowherd with children on the other. That’s it right here, the river,” Lavi added, raising their hands to trace a wide belt densely studded with stars. “They’ve been standing like that ever since, looking at each other across the sky, not able to cross the waters and reunite. And that’s the story.”

“I guess that’s what you’d call star-crossed lovers,” Allen mused as their hands came down to lie on the sand between them.

“Literally.” Lavi nodded, absent-mindedly stroking the back of Allen’s hand with his thumb. They both went quiet for a long while; Allen almost though Lavi had fallen asleep, and was startled to hear him whisper right into his ear.

“It’s sad, isn’t it? Loving someone when you can’t be together with them.” Lavi’s voice was husky, as if something was scratching in his throat. Allen turned his head to meet his eye, but Lavi quickly looked away and up to the sky.

“At least they get to see each other every night,” Allen said, trying to sound upbeat despite the sinking feeling in his stomach.

Lavi paused again, his gaze lost in the stars.

“I think that makes it even worse.”

Allen didn’t answer. He squeezed Lavi’s hand lightly, and felt him return the gesture, fingers closing firmly around his palm. They lay in silence, the crashing of waves the only sound carrying in the night air. After a long time, Allen felt Lavi’s hand relax in his. He turned his head; Lavi was laying on his side with his eye closed, his shoulders raising and falling slowly. He looked so peaceful that Allen felt his chest swell with affection till it started to hurt in his lungs and burn around his eyes. Carefully, he propped himself up on his elbow and leaned in, steady breaths sweeping his face as he brought his lips closer to press them gently against Lavi’s eyelid.

It tasted wet and salty like the sea.

***

The morning came with a yellowish light plunging everything in bright warmth, promising another clear, boiling day. Allen cracked his eyes open, squinting against the sun bouncing off the blinding white sand around him. His neck was stiff and the back of his throat itched as if he had swallowed an anthill. Allen dragged his hand across his face, wiping away the remains of sleep. Everything was still and quiet, the waves rolling lazily under the empty sky, the long grass blades standing upright in the breezeless air. The only spot of life as far as he could see was a lone magpie a little to his left, strutting to and fro, scratching at the sand and pecking the broken golem sitting atop of Lavi’s crumpled jacket.

Allen rolled over to his side, his breath hitching at how close his face came to Lavi’s. In the light of the day, inhibition overcame him anew, pulling him back and slipping his hand from his friend’s grip. He inched away slowly, but kept his eyes fixed, taking in the minute movements of Lavi’s lips between his breaths and the messy red strands falling over his freckled cheek. He wondered why he hadn’t noticed the freckles before. Maybe they just appeared with the sun. Allen rested his head on his hand, staring absent-mindedly at the tiny dots, some more visible, others pale and blending with the fair skin underneath. They looked like the night sky in negative, dark spots against the light background.

“What are you looking at?”

Allen held his breath as Lavi’s eye fluttered open.

“Nothing,” he replied automatically, feeling a wave of heat rushing up his neck.

“Right,” Lavi smiled with a corner of his lips. "Is there something on my face?"

“Stars,” Allen blurted the first thing on his mind before he could think.

Lavi gave him a searching look, his eye blurred with sleep.

“What?”

“Your freckles,” Allen explained, feeling rather silly. “I was thinking they look a bit like the stars.”

Lavi laughed softly, his shoulders shaking against the sand.

“Do they?”

“M-hm,” Allen nodded, a little encouraged. “I wonder if they make any constellations.”

“Why don’t you take a look?” Lavi propped himself on his elbow and tilted his head back a bit, brushing his hair out of his face to let Allen see. Allen leaned over, bringing their faces closer together. He could feel Lavi’s gaze fixed steadily on him, watching with amused interest.

“Well?”

Allen let his eyes wander, trying to make out a pattern from the scatter of freckles

“I think... I think there’s an outline of Komui’s beret here.”

Lavi snorted with laughter.

“Really? Where?”

“Right here,” Allen said, mapping the pattern with a fingertip just over his skin. “And these look like mitarashi dango,” he added, tracing a line down Lavi’s cheek.

Lavi smiled under the touch, the freckles shifting.

“Are you always thinking about food?”

“It’s not my fault they look like this!” Allen huffed. “Four dots in a straight line, that’s the clearest it gets!”

“All right, all right,” Lavi chuckled, playfully bumping his forehead with Allen’s. “I get it, you’re hungry.”

“Are you even _listening_ —“

Suddenly, there was a loud creaking, punctuated with shards of undecipherable words. Lavi’s golem fluttered up from the pile of clothes, spluttering and blinking weakly to signal the incoming message.

“ _…art… orking… dammit! Hey! Can you hear me?_ ”

“Loud and clear, Yuu.” Lavi reached out and grabbed the device to hold it in front of his face.

“ _Where are you two idiots?_ ” The irritation in Kanda’s voice was hard to miss even in spite of the breaking connection.

“Almost there,” Lavi assured, casting a sideways glance at Allen. “We can see the town already. We’ll be there soon.”

“ _Took you long enough. What the hell did you do with your golem? I couldn’t get through!_ ”

“I… kind of drowned it.”

At the other end of the line, Kanda snorted-- or maybe that was the static.

“ _Just move it. I can't wait here forever._ ”

“Sure thing, Yuu,” Lavi replied, though he couldn’t be sure if Kanda still caught that. The golem stopped blinking and the creaking was replaced with the steady low buzz of the free line.

Lavi squeezed the device back into his pocket and turned to Allen with an hesitant look on his face.

“Looks like it’s time to go.”

“Looks like it,” Allen nodded.

Neither of them moved.

“Come on,” Allen said at last after a long while, scrambling to his legs and stretching his cramped muscles. “It will still take us a little to get there.”

“Fine,” Lavi sighed and reached out to him. Allen took his arm and helped him up. They stood for a moment, facing each other just inches away, not letting go of each other’s hand.

For a split second, they both opened their mouths, taking a breath to say something. They both paused at the same instant, waiting for the other to go first. When no words came out, they both started to laugh -- a nervous giggle, soon unfolding into a genuine laughter, loud and out of control.

“What did you want to say?” Allen asked when they finally calmed down.

Lavi looked at him uncertainly and took another deep breath.

“Allen, I…” he trailed off, shaking his head. Allen gave him a reassuring smile.

“It’s all right,” he said, running his thumb across the back of Lavi’s hand.

They shared another unsure glance and suddenly Lavi pulled Allen into a hug, wrapping his arms tight around him and pressing his face into snow-white hair.

 Allen pressed back against him, his nose buried in the crook of Lavi’s neck. He put his arms around Lavi’s waist, pulling him closer.

“It’s all right, Lavi,” he repeated, his hand gently tracing circles on the small of Lavi’s back. “I know.”

Lavi sighed into Allen’s hair, the sound coming out as a stifled sob. Allen held him still, slowly rubbing his back until he felt Lavi relax in his arms. They pulled away reluctantly, hands lingering on each other’s body. Neither of them let go as they picked up their clothes and started walking down the shore again, side by side, hand in hand, their fingers laced together.


End file.
